Time slowed.
Ryo stood with blood pooling at his feet, broken body trembling with a fury not even death could tame. The ancient Thanatos scroll burned in his mind, unlocking what no human had before.
Aim Assist.
For 30 seconds, the world was his target.
And nothing would escape.
Virex took a step back—calculating, processing.
> "Statistical anomaly… Unregistered activation. Correction impossible… Recalculating."
Ryo moved.
The first strike was a spinning elbow—Virex raised an arm to block, but the elbow curved mid-air and shattered through his defense, cracking his forearm plating in two.
> "Impact registered. Error in trajectory prediction. Margin: Absolute."
28 seconds left.
The next was a blinding uppercut, fired like a piston.
Virex attempted a backstep, activating evasive jets—but it didn't matter.
Ryo's fist bent space, hitting him straight in the chin regardless of Virex's position.
The android's head snapped back, servos whirring.
> "Trajectory logic: Invalid. Movement evasion: Ineffective. Combat state: Unstable."
Ryo didn't speak.
He didn't need to.
His fists were singing death now.
26 seconds left.
He launched into a flurry of kicks—each one impossible to dodge. The first broke through Virex's hip joint. The second caved in a portion of his rib-like plating. The third hit the same spot as the first on purpose, triggering a micro-detonation from exposed wiring.
24 seconds.
Ryo didn't stop. He couldn't afford to.
Kineta was feeding off the movement, accelerating his speed—he was moving so fast now he could feel his muscles detaching, his joints grinding to dust.
But he didn't stop.
Because Lysa's body still wasn't moving.
22 seconds.
He went low, spinning into a sweep kick—Virex saw it coming, tried to leap—
But Aim Assist curved the motion. It wasn't just an attack—it was a guarantee.
Virex was swept into the air.
Ryo jumped to meet him.
A three-strike combo mid-air:
Palm to the chest—power core exposed.
Elbow to the jaw—optical sensors shattered.
Knee to the spine—primary stabilizers disabled.
They landed—Virex skidding across the stone, cutting through his own black fluid, twitching.
19 seconds.
> "Emergency protocol initiated. Overclocking physical core. Aim Assist Countermeasures… not possible."
He tried standing, but Ryo was already there.
A rising punch to the ribs. Another to the head. A twist of the neck and a downward hammer-fist that cratered the ground beneath Virex.
15 seconds.
And then—Ryo paused.
Not because he was done.
Because something in him snapped.
His vision blurred red. Kineta's speed buff had gone too far—his muscles were beginning to tear from the inside out. Skin sloughed off in places. His right eye bled from sheer pressure.
And still… he kept going.
13 seconds.
He grabbed Virex's synthetic hair and yanked him up. Looked him in the eye.
"You killed her."
> "Target interference—irrelevant. Orders: Primary. Thanatos Heir: To be destroyed."
Ryo crushed his face into the dirt with a thunderous knee.
10 seconds.
He leapt back, then sprinted in again, a blur of movement only possible through pure pain-fed adrenaline. His foot lashed out in a flying side-kick—
through Virex's torso.
He punched through the android, then spun and blasted him with a backhand that launched Virex through a pillar.
The shrine began to crumble.
7 seconds.
Ryo charged in again, fist cocked—
But something went wrong.
His body locked up. Kineta hit its limit.
His speed stopped increasing. His movement grew sloppy.
And Virex—burning, smoking, sparking—stood again.
> "Status: Partial reboot. Directives… intact."
He raised his hand.
> "Counterstrike… engaged."
A blade extended from his forearm.
5 seconds.
Ryo pushed forward despite it, ducking under the blade, twisting his body in impossible ways, body literally falling apart to dodge—
3 seconds.
He spun into a brutal strike to the core—
Aim Assist still active.
The punch connected straight into Virex's heart-core.
The explosion was instant.
Black fire erupted from the android's chest as he was launched into the sky, body flying limp.
1 second.
Ryo staggered back.
Aim Assist ended.
He collapsed to his knees, blood streaming from every limb, eyes hollow.
> "Is he… gone?"
Smoke drifted. Wind howled through the broken shrine.
And then—
Crunch.
A step.
From the shadows, something moved.
Virex's upper body—half-torn, missing an arm—crawled from the rubble.
> "Directive: Still… active."
Ryo raised a broken arm. Nothing moved.
He was done.
Virex reached forward—
Then a bolt of violet lightning crashed from above.
Lysa stood in the distance.
One arm limp. Face cracked with blood.
But alive.
And furious.
> "Sorry I'm late, darling…"
She raised her fingers, and lightning began coiling.
> "Let's finish this together."